Video game enthusiasts have long been fascinated by the “driving game” genre of video games. Driving a simulated motorcycle holds a special allure—the legendary “call of the wild.” This thrill is shared even among those who have never owned or ridden a motorcycle. And that allure is well-founded in the many rewards of biking that excite all the senses. In contrast to the confines of today's car, a motorcycle gives the rider the thrill of an unobstructed panoramic view—from the ground rush beneath the vehicle to the open road ahead. The driver feels the steady vibration and hears the mesmerizing “burble” of the engine purring. And, most of all, the driver feels gut-wrenching acceleration when he or she twists the accelerator on the handlebars and the engine roar rises and falls through each gear—all of which gives the driver the reassuring sensation of being, at last, in total control of a most powerful force and his or her own destiny.
Many in the past have gone to great lengths to try to realistically simulate the motorcycle experience. Past motorcycle driving games include for example 750 cc Grand Prix, Ducati Championship Racing, Enduro Racer, Excitebike (64), Fonz, GP500, Hang-On, Manx TT, Moto GP and progeny, Moto Racer, Moto Racer 2, Speed Kings, Suzuki TT Superbikes, Superbike 2001, Super Hang-On, Redline Racer, Road Rash, Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing, Suzuka 8 Hours, Tourist Trophy, Superbikes Riding Challenge 07, and Superbike World Championship just to name a few. Such games use a variety of different input device configurations, game platforms and other user interface features all in an attempt to realistically simulate the experience of riding a motorcycle on a race track, a dirt track or the open road.
One challenge of past home and handheld video driving games has been imposed by the type of input devices that are commonly available to the home video game player. Whereas arcade game makers have been able to spend significant time, effort and expense to design custom controller interfaces that closely simulate a motorcycle or other vehicle, such controllers have generally not been available to the home video game user. Although certain hardware accessory makers have attempted in the past to market specialized input devices for particular game genres, many or most home video games have traditionally been played using the standard universal handheld controllers that are offered with the video platform. Such controllers have generally been very versatile and easy to use. However, controlling a simulated motorcycle by moving a joystick with one's thumb while often quite effective is not necessarily the height of realism.
On an actual motorcycle, jet ski, all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile, bicycle or other vehicle steered using handlebars, it is common to provide controls such as throttle in the form of rotary twist-grip mechanisms disposed on the handlebar hand grips. In some such vehicles, the twist-grip mechanism is used as a control interface to the engine throttle. Many twist-grip throttle controls are directly coupled to mechanical linkages that for example directly control the throttle plate of a carburetor on the engine. Rotating the grip with a forward rotating hand motion opens the engine throttle, delivering more fuel to the internal combustion chamber(s) to increase vehicle speed as well as concomitant engine roar. The twist-grip is typically spring loaded to be biased in a normal or low throttle (idle) position. A position of maximum travel is usually defined by associated linkages and/or a physical stop. The vehicle operator thus typically encounters physical resistance when attempting to rotate the twist-grip beyond a maximum position. Letting go of the twist-grip allows it to automatically return under a spring bias force to an idle position. Some modern twist-grip controls may use potentiometers, Hall effect sensors or other electronic sensors to sense rotary position which is then translated into signals used to control the engine. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,276,230 and 6,978,694, incorporated herein by reference as examples of handlebar throttle controllers of the type that may be found on a variety of powered vehicles with handlebars.
One past approach to simulate such controls has been to design and provide specialty controllers that closely model the look and operation of a set of handlebars. For example, some past known specialty controllers look much like a set of motorcycle handlebars including turning and leaning action, brake levers, twist-grip rotary controls and the like. Unfortunately, specialty controllers are typically relatively expensive to manufacture, and because of their specialty design, usually can be used only with certain games. For example, a specialty handlebar type controller could be used with bicycle, motorcycle, jet ski, snowmobile and other driving games simulating a power vehicle with handlebars, but probably could or would not be used with many other driving or other types of games. Because of the extra expense as well as the need for maintaining compatibility with game software, such specialty controllers generally have achieved only limited success.
Unlike past home video game systems, the Nintendo Wii video game system released in 2006 offers a different paradigm for handheld user interface controls. Through use of inertial sensors within the Wii Remote and Wii Nunchuk controllers, the Wii allows the game player to control game play by changing the posture or orientation of the handheld remote controller. Various successful driving games have been developed that make use of such features to control the direction of a simulated vehicle on the screen. Nintendo offers a steering wheel accessory called Wii Wheel™ that provides a fun, comfortable way to play driving and racing games with the Wii video game system. Designed to improve accuracy and control with compatible games, the Wii Wheel lets the game player steer like he or she is driving an actual car and makes racing games more realistic. The player snaps the Wii Remote controller into the Wii Wheel and then grasps and turns the Wii Wheel to steer the simulated vehicle. Such approaches have been quite useful and beneficial, but further improvements for motorcycle and other driving games are possible and desirable.
The technology herein simulates twist-grip vehicle controls to provide fun and interesting new capabilities. Exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations are for example capable of precisely correlating player-controlled throttle inputs (e.g., X-axis “pitch”) with cumulative motorcycle speed; player-controlled steering inputs (e.g., Y-axis “yaw”) with slow-speed vehicle left/right turns; and player-controlled “roll” inputs (e.g., Z-axis tilt) with motorcycle lean angle in a hard or other turn—all using an inertial-sensing handheld controller that can also be used for a wide variety of other game genres.
In one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, novel game software employs a hand-held controller, including inertial “tilt” or other sensors such as accelerometers, to control the path a simulated motorcycle or other vehicle takes through a virtual environment. Two-handed operation of a hand-held remote controller may be controlled by the game software to simulate a handlebar twist-grip type control. For example, to turn the vehicle left, a video game player can rotate (yaw) the controller in a counter-clockwise (CCW) rotational motion about the upright Y axis like handlebars. Similarly, to turn the vehicle right, the player can rotate (yaw) the controller in a clockwise motion (CW) about the upright Y axis. In the case of a motorcycle or jet ski simulation, the player can also effect a faster, more aggressive turn “leaning” the vehicle left or right, by rotating (rolling) the controller CCW or CW, respectively, about the forward Z axis. Moreover, the player can independently speed up or slow down the vehicle by twisting the controller like a motorcycle throttle, about the lateral X axis—that is, CCW toward the body (pitch) to accelerate, and CW away from the body to decelerate. Such rotation can also effect simulated engine noise and/or vibration. Vibration can also be used to simulate an end-of-travel position for a simulated twist-grip controller mounted on a handlebar grip.
In one exemplary illustrative implementation, the handheld controller may be held and manipulated in such a way as to simulate the handlebar throttle controller of a conventional motorcycle or jet ski. Forward/rearward rotation (pitch) of the handheld controller is sensed and can be used to control a speaker and/or vibration motor. These functions are not inherent in the conventional Wii system, and can be added by application (game-specific) software. The game software can for example control the vibration motor to provide haptic feedback that simulates end-of-travel or other effects that a motorcycle rider would feel when he twists the throttle to a maximum rotation position. Additionally, twisting the handheld controller as if it were a handlebar throttle controller may rev a simulated engine and provide images and sounds that would correspond to simulated throttle position.
Additional exemplary non-limiting features include:                Use of an accelerometer to simulate an accelerator on a jet ski, motor cycle or other handlebar based vehicle        Throttle control using handheld remote        Haptic feedback: vibration intensity, rpms displayed on screen, speaker in Wii remote can provide audio feedback of engine revving        Analog control without having to push any buttons        Simulate end of travel with vibration        Tilt: with Wii remote, nothing tells you where your range of motion is limited (free space)—with this technique, the vibration is off until you reach the end of virtual rotation, as you tilt it, it vibrates heavily simulating an end of motion (and user can see a meter on the screen)        Can also work with the fit board (you feel like you are on the jet ski—as you weave back and forth on the board, the jet ski can cant)        Use vibration for: (a) revving of engine, and (b) simulate end of travel when there is no physical end of travel.        